Friendship requires wisdom 

• Proverbs 13:20 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm. 

Friendship requires your greatest loyalty 

• Proverbs 17:17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

• Proverbs 18:24 A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

• Proverbs 20:6 Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?

Friendship requires honesty 

• Proverbs 27:5-6 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.  Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy. 

• Proverbs 29:5 A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.

Friendship requires humility 

• Proverbs 27:9 -10 Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel. 

Friendship produces wisdom 

• Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

Friendship requires the gospel

• Proverbs 17:9 Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends. 

Friendship requires Jesus 

• John 15:13-15 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Instead of asking who is committed to you, are there friends to whom you need to be more committed? What steps can you take to display your commitment without expecting anything in return? How can you adjust your schedule for them? What needs in their life could you commit to meeting? 

Do you have friendships where the goal is mutual wisdom? What does this look like? How have the particular friendships produced wisdom and saved you from folly?

Do you struggle to be honest with folks you consider close friends? Are you guilty of flatter? What changes can you make to make sure you are avoiding hidden love and flattery with certain friends?

Do you struggle with receiving the honesty of a close friend? Are there ways in which you are avoiding certain friends because you know they will confront you of sin? What steps will you take to make yourself available to their counsel?

How has the gospel brought about deep friendships in your life? How has the gospel through forgiveness and reconciliation forged even stronger friendships in your life? 

What fears do you have about friendship? How does Jesus’ love for you transform those fears? How should Jesus’ friendship with you lead you to courageously pursue friends in the church?